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			Fun Times - Karen's Musings Random Rambling




			03:24 pm December 11th, 2006

estherchaya


	Fun Times
	I went for a dental cleaning and check up today. I knew it wasn't going to be pretty, because, well, because it's been an embarrassingly long time since I've had a cleaning. I used to be really good about dentist appointments, but I fell out of the habit at some point because my dentist is far away and I was having a hard time finding a dentist who was more convenient who accepted my insurance. Finally I gave up on finding one who accepted my insurance, and just made an appointment with my office-mate's dentist. The cleaning wasn't terrible. Apparently I don't have a lot of tartar buildup... she expected it to be not so pretty, and was quite surprised. The rest wasn't so pleasant... which is to say I have several cavities to fill and a broken tooth to repair (which is to say, a tooth which needs a crown). I hae that I get cavities, but the dentist and hygenist are in agreement that in all likelihood it isn't my dental hygeine habits which are lacking (as evidenced by the relatively uneventful cleaning), but rather the fact that I didn't grow up drinking flouridated water. And you know? There's just not so much I can do about that except move on. Tomorrow I have no appointments. Wednesday I have a check up with my OB/GYN. Gawd I am so tired of doctors. Next Monday I get to have blood drawn for the RE. Really, really, really tired of doctors. Oh, and I have a serious migraine and I'm clenching my teeth which is reminding me that I forgot to ask the dentist about the teeth clenching thing. Le Sigh. Tags: medical, migraines Current Mood: tired

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	Comments




			Thread started by vulture woman

From: have_inner_lady	Date: December 11th, 2006 09:13 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Thank you for being the only real-life reason I've found to date to justify giving my son these little purple fluoride pills every night. Good to know that they do serve some purpose.

Sorry that you didn't have the same when you were small...

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	From: estherchaya	Date: December 11th, 2006 09:20 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Yeah, you should totally keep giving him the flouride pills. Really. It will make a world of difference.

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From: have_inner_lady	Date: December 11th, 2006 09:24 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Will definitely do.

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			Thread started by electric misfit love machine

	From: eyelid	Date: December 12th, 2006 10:00 pm (UTC)		(Link)
	speaking of blood draws and such

...maybe you can help me interpret whatever my dr tells me. The nurse is saying I have a follicle measuring 13 something-or-other. And that my estradiol is at XYZ level which is good. Do you know what is normal for either of these things? Isn't 13 [unit of measurement that I cannot recall] pretty small for a follicle? or no? What do the various estradiol levels mean?

I am hitting you up for info because if I start web searching for numbers I know I will get a jillion incomprehensible medical journal docs that I do not need.

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	From: estherchaya	Date: December 13th, 2006 01:15 am (UTC)		(Link)
	Re: speaking of blood draws and such

Generally speaking, I think that REs look for follicles to be around 20mm before they trigger ovulation, but most of my IUIs were triggered at 16 or 17 mm.

My E2 (estradiol) level is notoriously low. I believe the nurse once told me that usually they look for it to be around 100 per mature follicle (but I could be completely wrong).

Incidentally, if you ever want to talk through this stuff, you're welcome to call me. Email me and I'll send you my phone number. (Or I can call you or whatever)

If I figure out that I was wrong about those numbers I'll let you know. All I know is that with PCOS the E2 level doesn't always get as high as normal humans and that my doctor said what they're really looking for is the relative rise, not the specific number, so it's not a problem that mine tends to be much lower than what the nurses say it "should" be.

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	From: eyelid	Date: December 13th, 2006 08:57 pm (UTC)		(Link)
	Re: speaking of blood draws and such

(that other journal is where I vent about fertility stuff - good thing Blue can't see that one, she'd REALLY think I was obsessed :D)

My follicle was 13mm, and my estradiol was 152. Apparently that is in the middle, and indicates that the follicle is producing hormones, so it is potentially still viable/developing/whatever. WORK BODY WORK.

My doctor was kind of a dick to me about the whole thing when he finally called me back. Like he wouldn't explain anything to me, he was all "I'd have to make you an RE to explain it." Hi, I'm pretty damn bright, it really won't take you that long to explain why it is you think I should blow $700 of my insurer's money on your ultrasound and bloodwork tomorrow. And it's really not unreasonable for me to ASK about that. This stuff costs!

I don't get it, you know? As a lawyer I think it's par for the course to explain stuff to clients in a courteous way. I don't know why these doctors get so fucking offended when asked to do that. If we're asking questions that means we're Questioning Them. :p

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

	From: estherchaya	Date: December 13th, 2006 10:07 pm (UTC)		(Link)
	Re: speaking of blood draws and such

(no problem on the other journal thing... funny thing was that I had seen the other journal in one of the communities and thought it might be you, and was going to add you as a friend, but then saw that you didn't anticipate friends. I'll pretend like I don't know who you are when you post in the community with that name)

Anyway, this site might be useful for you if you're wondering about hormone levels: http://www.fertilityplus.org/faq/hormonelevels.html

Remember that everyone is different, and often what REs are looking for is a change relative to your baseline, but the ranges given on this site are pretty standard compared to what I've seen elsewhere.

I have a book at home that might explain all the crap that your RE was unwilling to explain to you. I hate the book for a lot of reasons, but one thing he DOES do in the book is spend a lot of time explaining the relative relationships of various hormone levels at different points in your cycle. I'll find out the name of the book when I get home and I'll let you know.

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	From: eyelid	Date: December 13th, 2006 10:30 pm (UTC)		(Link)
	Re: speaking of blood draws and such

I'm not really good at hiding who I am. Never was an actor, not even online :) you don't have to act like you don't know me. the other journal is just where I say terrible and nasty things and post all my angsty poetry. So no one else sees all that. Also I use it for FI because I don't want anti-choicers online twigging to that I have fertility issues. I'm very out as having had an abortion, and though obviously these TTC issues I'm having now have nothing to do with that abortion, they'll connect it anyway.

yay, hormones. I have been crazy bloated and sorta-crampy all day. I wonder if I'll ovulate early, or whether I'll just menstruate instead. It's almost time for my cycle to END, and I haven't even ovulated yet.

I don't want to go to the ultrasound tomorrow for a lot of reasons. but I can't seem to cancel the appointment. DRAMA.

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